The Vancouver Olympic Village was raw industrial site a mere seven years ago. Now it shines like a new penny. (The only remnant from the industrial days is the brick red 'salt building' a hefty wooden structure used for decades for landing and storing salt, that was used to 'salt' salmon before it was shipped around the world.)
The apartment buildings that dominate the Village will be sold after the Games for top dollar. Certainly it's a far cry from having athletes stay in college dorms.
The 2010 Village has a enormous gym, weight room, and training facility. A quick dunk is the ice cold rehab pool may or may not provide relief, but is sure a hell will distract you from your worries. Even preventative dental care is being offered to all Olympic athletes (but unfortunately not to former Olympic athletes, as this one tooth right in the back, lower left side, has been bothering me for a while.)
The dining hall is training food heaven under a big white tent. Everything edible is always on the menu; and if fresh, healthy food isn't your thing, there's also a McDonalds off to the side. All free of cost to the athletes, of course. The only thing not on the menu is alcohol, which is not allowed in the village. At the moment, early days at these Games, teams sit in tight knots, seeking strong team spirit and safety in numbers, etc. But as the days roll past, and athletes are freed from the bonds of training-and-competing, more than a few email address will be exchanged between newfound friends from non-contiguous countries.
Not far from the dining hall is the 'Peace Wall.' Athletes from around the world have signed the wall, which will eventually be auctioned off, the proceeds to assist Haiti.
So, smack in the middle of the Vancouver Olympic Village is a concrete and steel wall covered with the names of hundreds of young people.
There's something similar in Washington DC... smack in the middle of National Mall is the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, made of black granite and inscribed with 58,261 names.
A random thought: soldiers come back from war, (any war), and often suffer from severe mental issues. Some are so sick they kill themselves.
Win, lose, or draw, athletes come back from the Olympics Games and get on with their lives. They practically never kill themselves... in fact, a quick google search turns up no examples of an Olympic athlete committing suicide.
Tentative conclusion: Olympics are good for one's mental health (or at least not bad for one's mental health). Fighting a war, (any war), however, is not good for one's mental health.
After wandering around on this planet for roughly 240,000 years, perhaps we humans can use our collective experience, knowledge, wisdom, and patience to do neat, smart, cool things (Olympics) and not dumb things (war, any war).
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